


Paint the Town Red

by megsblackfire



Series: The Name's McCree [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Graphic Violence, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, hints at past relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 05:11:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16591448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megsblackfire/pseuds/megsblackfire
Summary: A small outpost for the Bedouin people is under attack. Dr. Angela Ziegler and Dr. Vanessa McCree are there to help keep them safe.And accidentally get themselves injured via exploding bombs. Well done, Vanessa.





	Paint the Town Red

**Author's Note:**

> Felt the need to introduce Vanessa properly into the main Overwatch entity. Tried to make it feel like the Overwatch shorts. Not sure how well that went, but I loved it.

Angela poured herself a mug of coffee from the ancient coffee machine and let out a long sigh. She mixed in a little bit of cream to take some of the bitterness away and lifted the mug to her lips. She took a few blissful sips of her morning coffee before turning around to lean on the counter. The coffee would keep her hunger at bay for a few hours so that she didn’t have to eat until noon. It wasn’t that she didn’t like breakfast, it was just that her patients needed to be looked after before her own stomach.

She heard footsteps on the dirt outside and looked up. The woman that ducked into the tent was tall and carried herself like a fighter. Dark brown eyes flicked towards Angela before a smile spread across the woman’s face.

“Hey, Angie,” she greeted, her Southern accent striking a few chords of loneliness in Angela’s chest. “Coffee’s fresh?”

“It is,” Angela nodded as she reached out and grabbed the other doctor’s favourite mug. “I didn’t think you’d be up this early, Vanessa.”

“One of the kids had a nightmare,” Vanessa McCree shrugged as she headed over. “Her mother wanted me to help comfort her.”

Angela smiled as she poured the black coffee into Vanessa’s mug. “You are very good with children; I’m surprised you never had any yourself,” she teased.

“Never came up,” Vanessa chuckled as she poured a little bit of milk into her coffee and stirred it. “Both of us were busy.”

“You’re not too old,” Angela smirked.

“No,” Vanessa shuddered. “I am not carryin’ a baby at my age. Nope. That ship has sailed. And yer one to talk!”

Angela laughed as she nudged her shoulder against Vanessa’s. “You know I’m teasing,” she said. “It’s just good to hear you slip into your casual tone. I miss that Southern drawl now that Jesse isn’t here talking my ear off.”

Vanessa chuckled before she sipped her coffee. They lapsed into a comfortable silence borne of two doctors working their butts off to help with a people suffering from a civil war. Angela could heal a body to the point where it was almost back to normal, but Vanessa had to work with holding the shattered minds together.

Angela’s major had been biology and nanotechnologies. She could stitch flesh back together, get cells to accept nanomachines as part of the body, and help a patient get used to a new limb. Her expertise was not psychology. That was where Vanessa came in.

Vanessa majored in psychology. She knew how to help someone get their life back on track. She could coach someone to wanting to live again. Angela wasn’t trained for that and she appreciated Vanessa’s hard work. It was a blessing that she couldn’t appreciate enough.

Vanessa’s elbow tapped hers and Angela looked up. Vanessa smiled, pinching her scars up towards her eyes, and a mischievous glint entered her dark eyes.

“So, how’s that new skin grafting technique comin’ along?” she asked.

Angela did her best not to wince at the question. In all honesty, her clinical trials were coming along well, but she was hesitant to move the trials to human test subjects. She wanted more results before she would be satisfied.

“It is ready for further testing,” she said carefully.

Vanessa gave her a flat look before she sipped her coffee. “So, what yer sayin’ is that you don’t wanna jump from sheep to people?”

“It’s a large responsibility,” Angela sighed and rubbed her face. “If something goes wrong….”

“Angela, I do not understand anythin’ about what you do when I’m readin’ yer notes, but I know what good results look like,” Vanessa said.

“How can you not understand it? You have a minor in chemistry!”

“Angie, chemistry is not the same thing as nanotechnology,” Vanessa shook her head. “I know how medication works. Machines? Not so much.”

“Can’t you strip a car engine?”

“No, I can change the oil and other little things. I have no idea how an engine goes together. Tom’s tried to teach me. I failed every time.”

Angela let out a soft chuckle as someone ducked into the tent. They both nodded in greeting to the man that walked in and Angela noticed how he bowed a little deeper to Vanessa and spoke a little sweeter. She did her best not to smirk as Vanessa took a long sip of her coffee.

“Coffee makes me a better person,” she whispered as she kept her eyes closed so she didn’t see the man.

“Lack of a gun helps too,” Angela teased.

Vanessa let out a snort of agreement as the man continued trying to start a conversation with them. His English was poor, but that didn’t stop him from telling Vanessa that her ‘eyes were stars’ and that Angela’s hair was ‘as bright as the sun’. Angela had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing outright at the man.

She couldn’t blame the men from the village for being so obsessed with them. Angela was white with blonde hair and blue eyes; she was as opposite to the migratory Bedouin people. Vanessa was taller than most of the men and taller than all of the women; they had stared at her in shock when she first climbed out of the Jeep and introduced herself to the clan leader. They also found her accent mesmerizing; Angela couldn’t blame them there. There was something fascinating and almost lyrical about the Southern accent that the McCree siblings had.

Voices started shouting outside and all three of them looked at the tent flap. A young man darted inside, fixing his hat as he looked around desperately.

“Worm?” Vanessa asked as she set down her coffee mug.

“Three Jeeps headin’ fer the outpost!” the young man said as he hurried over. “Insurgents by the looks of them!”

“Get yer gun and keep the kids safe,” Vanessa instructed before she took off for the entrance of the tent. “Angie, let’s move!”

Angela set her mug down and hurried after Vanessa, stopping just long enough to thank Clarence “Worm” O'Donovan for the warning. The young man, Vanessa’s personal assistant, grinned widely and saluted before heading out of the tent after her.

Vanessa’s long legs had already carried her across the compound to where the storage lockers were. Angela hurried to follow, knowing that they had limited time before the insurgents arrived to kill as many of the Bedouin people as they could. It was a constant battle, one that Angela wished she could help end, but the civil war would not end because of a few well-placed shots. There was always someone else ready to rise up and take a superior’s place. The only thing she and the other medical officers could do was wait out the storm and keep those that they could alive.

Her locker was open when she arrived; she and Vanessa knew each other’s passwords just in case one of them got to the lockers ahead of the other. It would save them both time. She hurriedly grabbed her armor and started putting it on, activating the Valkyrie suit as she went.

Vanessa was already dressed and ready to go before Angela even had the front of her suit done up. She slipped her tattered cowboy hat onto her head and turned to help pull the back of Angela’s suit together. Angela glanced down and smield.

“No boots?” she asked.

“No time,” Vanessa said before she pulled the Caduceus staff out of Angela’s locker. “I can hear the Jeeps.”

Angela nodded as she took her staff and activated it. Vanessa was already running across the compound to the front gates, her duster blowing behind her as she ran. Angela flew after her, taking note of where the other defenders were stationed. She was the senior medical officer on site at the moment and it would be her job to keep everyone on their feet. It was a daunting task, but she knew that she could do it. She had handled much worse while working with Overwatch.

* * *

 

Vanessa scrambled up onto the walkway and turned to offer a hand to Angela. She knew that Angela could have flown up to her, but it was better to save the energy in the suit for when she really needed it. Angela held tightly onto her hand and let herself be hauled up onto the wall beside Vanessa.

“How far?” Vanessa called.

“Three kliks,” one of the guards replied as he settled his rifle against his shoulder. “What is it that you said? Dirty rat bastards?”

“Probably on a few occasions,” Vanessa smirked before she knelt down and got her rifle between the barbed wire wrapped around the top of the wall. “Keep yer head down, Angie.”

“I have no intentions of being shot,” Angela reassured her.

Vanessa smirked and pulled her bandana over her nose and mouth to keep the flying sand out of her lungs. She narrowed her eyes, watching the dust trails heading for them. She counted four Jeeps and grit her teeth; maybe this was why Jesse always had that stupid cigar in his mouth? Stupid thing probably helped to ground him for a moment before the fight started.

The Jeeps came roaring over the parched earth and bullets started flying at the compound. One of the guards shouted orders and the others open-fired. Vanessa took aim and fired at the Jeep, snapping the lever of her rifle forward after every shot.

Gabriel used to give her shit about using such an old-fashioned and slow rifle, but she had a softspot for the classic lever-action rifles. In the hands of someone like her, here was no difference in fire rate than any other rifle, save for maybe Jack’s stupid, oversized pulse rifle. That thing fired a ridiculous amount of bullets.

A rocket slammed into the wall just to her right and Vanessa swore as she ducked. Angela gasped before she whipped her staff around and started healing one of the people that had been knocked off the wall. She was gone in an instant, flying down to the prone figures on the ground. Vanessa grit her teeth before popping back up to fire on the Jeeps again.

“You have to do better than that, you cocksucker!” she shouted.

Another rocket slammed into the wall further down, but aside from the stones groaning and trembling, nothing happened. The Jeeps were peeling off, driving around the compound and firing bullets at the guards. Vanessa ducked and listened to the bullets blast into the stone she was hiding behind.

“Yer aim sucks!” she shouted before popping up and sniping two men out of the back of the Jeeps in rapid succession.

She dropped down and reloaded her gun, snapping the cartridge into place as quickly as she could. Her hands were shaking from adrenaline and she could feel her chest rising and falling rapidly as she panted. A gunfight always excited her, but she was always aware of the bullets flying through the air. The last thing she needed was to get one of them between the eyes.

She peeked over the wall and spotted one of the Jeeps right below her. The men had scrambled out of the Jeep while she and the others were reloading and were setting up charges at the base of the wall. She frowned before hauling herself up and over the wall, ignoring the barbed wire that tore at the palms of her gloves, and dropped down onto the men below.

It was at least a ten foot drop, but she had a soft landing as her feet slammed into one of the insurgents. She rolled forward, letting the force of her fall disburse around her as she got back to her feet. Her fists caught one man offguard and he dropped like a stone to the ground clutching his broken nose. The others started shouting, but she was too close for them to shoot without shooting each other.

Her knife was out in a flash, slicing first the sleeve of one man and then plunging deep into the gut of the one that tried to grab her. She twisted the knife and pulled, spraying blood all over the front of her vest as she pulled the knife violently out of the man’s torso. She rammed her elbow into a third man’s nose, ducking as a machete was swung at her head.

“Uh, uh,” she smirked before she twisted and leaped on the fourth man. “Don’t think so.”

She rammed the knife down into the man’s shoulder, twisting the knife so that the tip was pushed into the man’s throat. He garbled at her, beating his fists against her as she ripped the knife out and started stabbing him repeatedly. She pulled back as the man fell away from her, bleeding out on the sand from the deep wounds she had inflicted.

She heard the man whose nose she broke move behind her. She pulled her handgun out of the holster on her left hip and fired behind her. The sound of a bullet rupturing a skull was music to her ears.

“One Jeep down,” she said as she touched her earpiece. “There’s explosive charges at the base of the wall; might be more around the outpost.”

“We will check once we get down; the other Jeeps are leaving,” the leader of the guards said.

“Good to know,” Vanessa said as she knelt down to examine the charges.

She frowned as she leaned forward to examine the weird panel on the front. She had no idea what she was looking at, but she did not like the look of the light panel at the top. She watched the lights flick and spin before three of the four bulbs at the top turned solid green.

“Get everyone away from the walls,” she shouted into her earpiece before she grabbed the bomb. “And keep yer heads down!”

She threw the bomb as hard as she could. It got past the Jeep and exploded, launching the Jeep into the air. She swore and dove out of the way, rolling across the ground as the vehicle slammed into the wall. She started to get to her feet, but was slammed back down to the ground as a chunk of the Jeep landed on top of her.

She screamed in pain as her flesh burned from the heated metal. She struggled and clawed at the chunk of metal lying on top of her. She thought she heard feet heading for her, but she was too consumed by her pain to notice. Her nerves fired off pain until she felt herself dropping into a black abyss. Her eyes rolled backwards in her head and she passed out as she felt the chunk of metal lift off of her left side.

* * *

 

The world faded in slowly. First shapes, then shadows, then finally colour. Not that there was much to look at in a medical center aside from white ceilings, white walls, and a white blanket. Still, it was better than seeing nothing.

“Fuck,” Vanessa groaned.

“Good to see you up,” Angela said as she stepped into view and checked something at Vanessa’s bedside. “I was worried for a few hours.”

“Only a few?” Vanessa managed a smile before she tipped her head to the side to look at her left side. “How bad?”

“Second-degree burns over most of your left arm,” Angela sighed. “Third degree burns over a small portion of your back and shoulder; I was afraid it would go necrotic, but it has taken well to the grafting.”

Vanessa smirked. “Ah, so you finally put yer grafting tech to work?” she said.

Angela looked at her for a moment before giving a small smile. She nodded and adjusted something on one of the IV stands.

“It’s worked very well. I’m a little surprised considering pig skin did not heal anywhere near as quickly.”

“Told you it was ready for human test subjects,” Vanessa smiled before she took a deep breath and looked down at her hand.

Most of her arm was wrapped in gauze, but she could see the healing flesh in between the strips. She let out a long sigh of relief; at least she wasn’t covered in black, crispy skin. She slowly tried to curl her fingers, smiling as her fingers obeyed her. That was a good sign; her nerve endings, muscles, and tendons were still in good working condition.

“Surprised Worm’s not in here,” she said. “Figured he’d be sleepin’ at the foot of the bed.”

“I’ve been beating him back every time he tries to sneak in,” Angela sighed. “He’s been worried sick.”

“Aw,” Vanessa smiled. “Well, give me an hour to wake up and send him in. I need to know how things have been since I blacked out. It’s been, what, a day?”

“Almost two,” Angela said. “I had you on a morphine drip to keep you asleep while the graft was taking. I knew you’d be off to look after your patients as soon as you could walk.”

Vanessa shrugged her right shoulder, feeling the painful tug when she tried to move her left one. “I’m a dedicated doctor, what can I say?”

“Dedicated or foolish,” Angela sighed. “Again, another McCree trait.”

Vanessa smiled before she glanced at the table beside her. Her phone was propped up and showing a picture of her family. It had been the last one that she and her brothers had taken together before Overwatch was disbanded. Just looking at it made her ache inside for her family.

A memo popped up on her phone, reminding her to call one of her private clients. She grimaced before reaching out with her right hand to pick it up.

“No work,” Angela scolded.

“This is necessary,” Vanessa said. “This client is very vulnerable. I need to check in on them.”

Angela squinted at her, but nodded. “Fine,” she said before she turned away. “You have twenty minutes and then I’m upping the painkillers to let you sleep.”

“Twenty minutes; more than enough time,” Vanessa smiled and waved as Angela left.

She flicked her way over to her contacts and scrolled down until she found her client. She tapped the number, hoping that they hadn’t switched to another burner phone without letting her know. He was prone to doing that and it was very, very annoying. She heard the line pick up, but no one answered.

“You know, most people say hello,” she commented as she looked down at her damaged arm.

“Could have been anyone on the other end,” the familiar gravelly voice said.

“Not on this phone,” she smirked. “You’re down as ‘that idiot’. They would never know who you are.”

“Unless they knew you,” Jack sighed heavily.

“I also have a ‘jackass’, ‘dumbass’, and ‘psychopath’ listed, so good luck,” she laughed. “How’re you feelin’?”

“No better.”

“It takes time. Have you cut down on your alcohol intake?” Silence greeted her. She sighed. “Step one, Jack.”

“I know.”

“I’m not goin’ to scold you. I know life isn’t easy right now. How’s your medication supply?”

“Enough for two more weeks.”

“I know a drugstore in Cairo that can get you refills,” Vanessa said. “I can send a request under a pseudonym.”

“Why do you care?”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Jack. Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“Yer like a brother to me. I worry about you. Especially since Reaper’s being a fuckin’ shithead about every fuckin’ thing.”

“You don’t have to worry about me; there’s enough on your plate.”

“Yer blood, Jack; I worry about everyone.”

“Even Jesse?”

“Especially Jesse, but I can’t get a hold of him to chew him out,” she laughed. “Look, Jack, say the word and I’ll be on the next flight to Cairo to spend some time with you.”

“Your job…..”

“Will be here when I get back. I just got pulled out from under a fiery wreckage; vacation is pretty much guaranteed at this point.”

“Fiery wreckage? What the fuck did you do, McCree?”

“Accidentally blew up a car and got a piece of the side pinnin’ me to the ground. All good.”

“All good. Ugh, you’re just like your brother.”

“Could be worse; Jesse and I could be twins.”

“The world could not handle that much recklessness.”

“Handles you just fine.”

“Look how I turned out now. I’m old and falling apart.”

“You wouldn’t be if you took care of yourself, you self-destructive dumbass. So, I’ll see you in a few days.”

“I didn’t agree to anything!”

“Too bad. Let your boss know I’m comin’. We’ll do lunch.”

She hung up before Jack could argue, flicking her way over to her day planner so that she could book the time off. She nodded her head to acknowledge Worm as he slunk into the recovery bay and crawled up onto the end of her bed. She glanced up at the gangly seventeen year old and smirked.

“Think you can handle things around here for a while?” she asked. “It’ll just be check-ins to make sure no one is having side-effects on their medication.”

“Where’re you goin’?” Worm blinked at her.

“Date with a friend,” she said as she set her phone to the side. “Very private man enjoying his golden years. No, you can’t come. Yes, I’ll bring you a souvenir. Something tacky.”

“You know me so well,” Worm grinned before he kicked his feet. “So, how’s the arm?”

“Recoverin’,” she replied. “Going to need gentle care though. Burns are serious business.”

“Worse than almost losin’ the bottom half of yer face?”

“Not nearly as bad, you shithead,” Vanessa laughed. “But definitely worse than a stab wound.”

“Yikes,” he smiled before scooting close enough to give her a hug. “I’m glad yer awake. Now I don’t have to worry and Angie won’t chase me out of here.”

Vanessa smiled and reached out awkwardly with her right hand. He grasped it gently, grinning brightly.

“Yer a good kid; she’s just doin’ her job,” Vanessa said. “And you should be applyin’ to universities.”

Worm grimaced but he knew that he wasn’t going to escape her attempts to get him back into school. Vanessa reached out to ruffle his hair, knowing that she had an uphill battle on her hands to get the young man to leave her side.


End file.
